Schools have done drills like this since 2015 and 2016. 95 . A lot of discussion about whats that doing for Mental Health. After all, schools, despite whats happening, schools are still one of the safer places out there for children. Still this is awful, and it sound like the kids knew what to do once this started. Ali and stephanie, thank you so much. Were going to continue on with this. Its 2 00 p. M. In the east, 11 00 a. M. In california. One student is dead and multiple others are injured after a shooting at a Santa Clarita high school today. Were waiting on two News Conferences scheduled to happen at any moment. One from the l. A. County Sheriffs Office. The other from the hospital where the victims were taken. Here is what we know so far. The l. A. County sheriff says the suspect survived a selfinflicted Gunshot Wound after he fled to a nearby home. The sheriff also says that the suspect is a Young Asian Male who was a student at Saugus High School and is now in police custody. Officials say seven other students were injured. The local Hospital Reports that a female patient has died, and two other males are in critical condition. We heard what sounded like someone pounding on one of the walls really loudly. Kids were just running and crying. Two of my friends are still in there. Place is still locked up, its barricaded. My friends are telling me, also texting me, pray to god, hide, dont be scared. Literally just like a couple of weeks ago we were like, oh, what if it happened, what would you do . I was kind of like, hypothetical situation, i never thought it would actually happen. Joining me now from Santa Clarita, correspondent joe friar. Youre on the ground talking to students. What are you hearing . Reporter well, obviously we heard from a lot of students there. Most of the students that weve talked to have sort of described hearing one gunshot, then hearing a few more, describing
sort of a boom, boom, boom sound, and knowing what to do. Matter of factually, one student said, weve trained for this before, we all knew to run into the middle of the building to get under desks, to not say anything, to not answer our phones at all. Students, as weve been talking about, this is something they know to train for. They say they went into action. After the chaos unfolded at the school, we got reports that the gunman was not in custody. They were telling people to be cautious, to be on the lookout for a young man around 15 years old described as asian wearing dark clothes. Then a short time later, Police Descended on this neighborhood where im standingment were about 2. Standing. Were about 2. 5 miles from the school. You see where im standing now, there is police tape, but its down this road right here where a lot of people were under a little bit of a lockdown. Theres a house around the corner where police, its believed then had an encounter with the suspect or were able to find the suspect. At this point were still waiting for information about what exactly unfolded, if
anything at all, between authorities and the suspect who authorities do say is now in custody. So thats the latest we have here. We know that for sure four people were taken to the hospital here in Santa Clarita. Three initially arrived in critical condition. Since then, one of them, a female, has passed away. Two other males are in critical condition, and theres another male who is in good condition. To be honest, a lot of things we dont know, whether the gunman is considered one of the four taken to the hospital. Were hoping when we hear from the Sheriffs Department and the hospital well have more understanding of exactly how many people were injured and what the latest situation is with the gunman. Ive talked to people in this neighborhood here. They say they didnt really hear anything, they didnt hear gunshots or anything in this neighborhood. They just saw Police Descend upon the area, saw a helicopter overhead, and knew something was wrong and some people were basically asked to stay inside
their homes and lock down. Stick by for us for a little while, if you find anything new, please come back. We want to go now to one of our reporters, andy blankstein, joining us from our los angeles bureau. Joe said that the shooter had a selfinflicted Gunshot Wound, andy. Police have him in custody. Can we presume that they have him in custody at a local hospital . That much we do know. He is in custody. Theres been obviously conflicting reports. Multiple Law Enforcement sources have told nbc news that the gunman shot himself and that he is deceased. The sheriff later tweeted that he had been taken to a local hospital and being treated. Were waiting for kind of a clarification in terms of the sequence of events. Again, Law Enforcement sources that have talked to nbc news, myself, Pete Williams, eric leonard at knbc, have said that
the gunman is dead. As far as a motive, at this point still trying to sort out the crime scene. Trying to security Search Warrants or get the Search Warrants so they can get more information and background on this student. Hes 15 or 16 years old, and is a student at Saugus High School. At this point, still unfolding. Still trying to Chase Strands of this investigation. Do we know how law was able to Law Enforcement was able to locate theis young man . As with everything, initial reports from the scene where people see somebody according to the early tweets, it was a male asian dressed in black clothing. There were reports that after the shooting from a nearby Elementary School that at a home theres other reports that he was found at the school location. Thats another piece of the
puzzle that will hopefully be put together in the next hour or so when the sheriff and others address the media. Andy, hold on for a second. We want to bring in connecticut senator chris murphy whos been at the forefront of the fight for gun control since the shooting in shoetown, connecticut, in 2012 newtown, connecticut, in twoi2012, sandy hook. What is your reaction . I was down on the senate floor coincidentally trying to offer a motion to bring up the Background Check Bill for a vote in the senate at the very moment that news was breaking of this shooting. It is just another reminder of the cost of our total, complete inaction in the United States senate. When i got to my office, i had one of the sandy hook Family Members there, due to meet with me, who had to take a break, Who Couldnt Sit down and have a conversation because he was obviously so emotional reliving
the pain of sandy hook as this School Shooting was playing out on the news. Its a reminder that the trauma in places like parkland and newtown and aurora, they repeat on days like this when the news are filled with scenes as were watching out of california. But its also a reminder that we just cant sit by and do nothing as the slaughter continues. Republicans had an opportunity today as news was breaking of the shooting to bring up a Background Checks Bill that has 90 support in this country and once again they refused. Why not . I mean, their excuse today was they didnt have the opportunity to weigh in with some of their suggested changes of the of course, thats a pretty hard pill to swallow given the fact that they control the United States senate. Were not really doing anything in the senate these days. Were doing nominations and executive appointments. We have plenty of time to work on a Background Checks Bill that eventually could get republican
and democratic support. I think ultimately they dont want a break from the nra. Theyre not ready to do that yet. As i tell them, theyre going to continue to lose seats if they dont because parents across this country fear for their kids safety and want to see congress responding. Legitimate anxiety. Is there going to be solved in the courts right now, the supreme cou Supreme Court . Its allowing the movement in connecticut where sandy hook families are holding the makers of bushmaster, remington, liable for the gun used in the shooting at that school. Im glad that the sandy hook families are going to get their day in court. Its an abomination that in the 2000s at the height of the nras power they got a law passed through congress that effectively protected the gun industry from liability. Today if you make a toy gun, you have more Product Liability than if you make a real gun. The sandy hook families have
found a way to court, the Supreme Court is allowing the lawsuit to go forward. Maybe the makers of these Assault Weapons are going to be finally held accountable in a court of law. If 90 of the American Public supports a Background Check Bill and that is not taken up in the senate, do you think that that alone along with the shootings weve seen, will be enough for the voters it to change the Balance Of Power in the senate in 2020 . I mean, you saw about 30 seats change hands from republicans that were a rated by the nra to democrats who are voting for things like Background Checks and Assault Weapons ban. That was a remarkable, very quick change in the composition of congress on matters related to gun policy. And i think that that trend is going to continue. I really think that republicans will lose control of the senate and will never get back into power in the House Of Representatives unless they start supporting these common sense interventions. I think thats why you see republicans starting to move. Thats why President Trump entertained the notion for the first time this summer of signing on to a Background Checks Bill. Hes got enough of a political incentive to know that in the face of this continued mass slaughter, his party is going to be irrelevant pretty soon if they dont make some kind of break with the gun lobby. Not to be too cynical here, but in talking about money and talking about the nra rating, School Safety is now a 2. 7 billion industry. Thats technology at the front of schools for sorting through people who are going inside, its technologies to prevent or do lockdowns in schools, its backpack technology, 2. 7 billion industry right now. As a parent of two Elementary School, Public School children, i do want to make sure that the school that theyre going to is as safe as it can be without creating a prisonlike atmosphere in which they fear for their lives every time they walk through the door. I dont think its an either or proposition. I think we need to make our schools more secure. But i also know that theres no level of security that can protect my kids with 100 certainty if we still allow these militarystyle weapons to get into the hands of people who are having these serious breaks from reality. Were going to have to do both. Senator murphy, thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks. Lets now listen to some sound, an interview with some students, with one witness of the shooting. It just kind of happened mid conversation. We heard the first shot. We didnt really know what it was. And we kind of thought it was a mix carton being, you know, stepped on because that happens pretty often. Its kind of like, okay. But then we heard multiple shots like in order, and we kind of like we didnt really say anything to like react. We just kind of ran toward the
escaped as federal government as fast as possible. After the first shot, obviously i thought it was just a joke. Then someone i dont know, someone like ran away initially. And i thought it was weird. Then the other shots came in, and just yeah. I knew, like, okay, this isnt a joke, need to get out of here right now. Lets bring in nbc news correspondent simone boyce from Santa Clarita. Also following the investigation is nbc news justice correspondent Pete Williams. Simone, first to you. That student just described initially thinking that somebody stepped on a milk carton. Unfortunately, weve lost simone here it is. We lost your audio. Please start over. Reporter okay. Were hearing similar stories of terror and grief and shock here
were losing it again. Were going to try and get that reestabli reestablished. Over to Pete Williams. What can you tell us about the investigation . Reporter were waiting to get cleared up something thats been rather confusing over the past hour or so. When this all ended, when the authorities converged on a house near the school, we were told by several Law Enforcement officials that the shooting suspect was inside, had shot himself, and was dead. And then as you know, the sheriff put out a message saying that the gunman had been taken to a hospital and was being treated. And so weve been trying to square that circle and trying to figure out which it is. We knew early on that they the threat was over, that the authorities had found the suspect and had considered the suspect neutralized and that it was a selfinflicted gunshot. But were still waiting to hear
from the authorities now which is it. Was the gunman dead at the scene . Did he die en route to the hospital . Was he simply pronounced dead at the hospital . Thats what were waiting to find out. In terms of who this young man is, its a male, obviously, the sheriff had earlier said it was an asian male, all dressed in black. 15 years old. It may turn out that he was 16 because today was his birthday. Were awaiting to hear more about what the weapon was and anything more about the about the shooting suspect. But also hoping that they can clarify exactly what the sequence of events was. Do you know why he fled to that house in particular . Was that his house . Reporter not that we know of. We think that was just a you know, he was just looking for someplace to hide. And can we presume with confidence that he is deceased . Reporter well, yeah, normally i would say yes. I mean, everything weve been told says yes. But theres this tweet from the the sheriff saying he was being treated at the hospital. So far, the hospital has only said that theres one person who was brought there who has died. That was the woman who had been in critical condition. We know from the Sheriffs Office that everybody involved in the shooting, both the suspect and the victims, were all students at the high school. Your question is good, and you know, this is the confusion were hoping they can clear up. Of course. Its always we get information as we get it during these breaking news moments. Sometimes that information changes. Pete williams, what can you tell me about the weapon that he used . Reporter well, we dont know for sure yet. We think it was a handgun, but we dont know. So often these School Shootings are carried out with rifles or socalled assaulttype weapons. We think this was a handgun. And perhaps that would account for the fact that as far as we know five or only five or six
people were actually received Gunshot Wounds. That number might well have been higher if it was a different weapon. Were waiting for confirmation of that. Everything weve heard indicates that it was a handgun. Inside the school, according to a parent we interviewed on this air, some of the students who witnessed the shooting are still being interviewed by investigators and Law Enforcement officers. What sort of questions will they be asking . Reporter very simple, what did you see . What did you see, what happened . And as now has to be asked, had you gotten any warning, why do you think this young man did this, what do you know about the suspect, was he bullied, was he was he a loner, was he depressed, those sorts of things. Theyre also looking obviously at his social media, people he was in touch with, did he give any kind of warnings about this, did he say to anybody dont go to school tomorrow, anything
like that. We are still waiting for a Press Conference from the sheriff. Were also waiting for a Press Conference from the hospital. Again, for those who might just be tuning in, the local hospital in that area has tweeted out that one student has died. That is a female student. There are three other male students who have also been shot. They are in critical condition, but they are are still okay as of now. Simone boyce, one of our nbc news correspondents, is down there at the school. We had a problem with her audio a moment ago. Weve reestablished it im told. Simone, what can you tell us . Reporter we are at central park right now which is less than a couple of miles away from Saugus High School where the shooting took place. I believe behind me you can see an fbi huddle taking place. As you mentioned, we are bracing for that Press Conference that should be taking place in just a couple of minutes. Hopefully we will be learning more about the suspect and get
clarification on some of the conflicting reports that weve been hearing this morning since we heard that the shooting broke out at around 8 00 a. M. Here on the ground at central park, this is the area where families and students are reunifying. Weve spoken to a couple of students who described the scene at the school for us earlier. They said that they were told to lock their classroom doors, shelter in place. They put their phones away because they were afraid that the shooter might potentially see those phones and be able to target them inside of their classrooms. And that created some panic for the parents at this school, realizing that they were having trouble reaching their students and their children as this was going on. I spoke to another young man who was outside as he heard gunshots ring out. At first it was just one, then he heard multiple gunshots. He started running and was able to escape to a nearby church which is where he sheltered until he was able to be reunified with his family. As you can imagine, the scene here on the ground, its very chaotic as people work through these strong emotions of terror, of grief and shock. Simone, thank you. We have a couple of other experts to go to. But i do want to just get you up to speed on the shootings that have happened. In california alone in the past couple of years, in orinda, california, october 31st, 2019, five people were killed and several injured at a Halloween Party held at an airbnb, a home. Long beach, october 30th, 2019, three men were fatally shot. At least nine other people were injured at a halloween house party, as well. Gilroy, july 28th, 2019, a man with an assaultstyle rifle opened fire at a festival killing three people and wounding 13 others. Thousand oaks, november 7th, 2018, a man set off smoke bombs to create a confusion at a Borderline Bar Playing country
music, then shot a Security Guard at the entrance and opened fire on to the crowd inside the bar. 12 people were killed. Rancho tajima reserve, november 14, 2017. A gunman rampaged a small community, firing at an Elementary School and several other locations killing at least four and wounding at least ten. San diego, april 30th, 2017, a man fired a gun at a Poolside Party while talking on a cell phone with an exgirlfriend, killing one person and injuring at least six. San bernardino, 2015, december 2nd, a heavily armed man and woman killed at least 14 people and wounded at least 17 at a social Services Center before dying in a shootout with police. Isla vista, california, u. C. Santa barbara, may college, may 23rd, 2014. After stabbing three men to death in his apartment, a college extend methodically opened fire on bystanders,
killing three and wounding more than 13. Santa monica, june 7th, 2013, four people were killed and five wounded as a gunman walked through santa monica with an assaultstyle rifle, firing at people, cars, a public bus, and buildings before being shot and killed by the police. A number of Mass Shootings in california alone in the past few years. Joining me, former atf Special Agent jim cavanaugh, and former fbi profiler clint vanzant. Clint, what is going on . What is going on is that we have a lot of in this case young people in schools who have learned, unfortunately, from events just like youve spoken about that Anger Management is something beyond their reach. They look for violence to solve issues of anger, frustration, rage, whether theyve been
bullied, whether they cant get a date, whatever the case may be. They have learned from incidents like weve spoken about, theyve learned from songs, theyve learned from video games, theyve learned from the news that this is one way to even the score, to take a weapon in where you expect there to be no other weapons, and then to act out against your anning Tonist Or Act Out your january tagnist or act out against totally innocent people because you want revenge. My friend jim conkavanaugh, he e a point that when you sound something that sounds like a shot, assume it was a shot. Jim was an atf agent, i was an fbi agent. If we heard something that sounded like a ruler or slap on the table, we thought it was a shot until we found out otherwise. Were going to have to have that same level of response from americans. And what that should do, almost like a starting gun that says
get out of here, get away there that noise, get away from that shot until you find out otherwise. Clint, why in almost all cases is a young man . Well, whether its an incident of testosterone or what we know that vast majority of School Teachers and many other mass shooters are young men. We know that in the case of School Shootings, about 40 of them actually do commit suicide. We know that 80 to 90 of School Shooters provide some type of indication, some type of emotional spillover. With the internet today, with social media, people talking about people speak about their anger, their frustration, their rage. They go on line and talk about this. What happens to that information, does it get passed from child to parent to school to Law Enforcement . Or does that information just
lay there and its not responded to at all . We have to assume if anybody makes a threat, that threat is real, and it has to be responded that way until we find out otherwise. We have young people and others that move along this continuum from the thought of committing murder to the actual act of doing it. Anywhere along that continuum, we can interrupt that movement, but we have to have information from children, from parents, from school officials, and then we have to look at these red flag acts and take them as real and try to intercept that student to save him or her from themselves and to save the life of others. Clintons talking about the remedies for the individuals that might be at risk. Jim, what are the remedies for the country, the government . What needs to happen . Well, you have to have senators that would put the lives of americas children before their senate seat. You know, i would stand with the children, the kids, the young people from parkland, the march for our lives group. You know, i would say to mitch mcconnell, okay, boomer, put the bills on the floor. Why are you afraid to let the bills be voted on and debated on the floor of the senate . Thats the most unamerican thing that i can think of. Do you think this is a secondamendment issue . Oh, sure. They think the votes are there, and they wont risk their seat. Sen soldiers will risk their lives to save children, policemen will, firemen will. But senators wont risk their seat to save the childrens lives. Thats thats really disgraceful. All theyve got to do is put the bill on the floor and debate it and vote on it. You know, the constitution gives us freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, except in the senate. In the senate, you get nothing. And you get no action. So there will be no remedy. I dont think there will be any
courage up there at all, no courage because theyre afraid for their seats. Theyre fearful, theyre more protective of their seats than the lives of your kids, of americas kids. And so what it will take is the voters. Once the voters vote them out, then theyll have A Change Of Heart because their seats most important thing to them, and then they want the seat, and then theyll have to go with the voices of the voters. It if voters do not . What does that say . Well, then were going to be stuck. Were going to be stuck where we are in this malaise of, you know, people being slaughtered as you just went through, that litany, katy, of awful carnage in california alone. Were stuck there because our minds are, you know, coopted by the gun lobby to believe that more and more guns and more and more places makes us safer. Look, the gun were living in the gun lobbys america for the last 25 years. Hows it working . Its not working that great. It needs to be brought back to center. And it doesnt need to be, you
know, trampled on Second Amendment rights. But it needs to be brought back to center so kids can go to school and everybody can shop and go to the movies and live their lives as americans, and crime can be controlled. So to do that, you have to have some restrictions on the tools that are used by criminals. And you know, grant lawabiding people the rights that they need for protection. It can all be done, it can all be balanced, but its all shifted so far, you know, one way. Were doing great look, were doing great on the police response. Were doing great on the the kids and the people at the scenes. You hear these kids i heard the shot, i reacted, i ran, i hid. Where we need to tighten up is in the beginning. We need to recognize the kids just like clinton discussed. The signs, the warning signs. We also need to have the laws that back those things up on Mental Health, red flag laws, and guns. So the weak parts police are getting there quick. Theyre shooting the people. Theyre getting shot. Theyre chasing them. The the citizens are reacting. But were weak on the front that we need to tighten that up in all aspects on the front to reduce these. We may never eliminate them all, but we can reduce the number greatly. We are seeing some activity down where that News Conference is supposed to happen with the with the sheriff, the local sheriff. I hope it happens soon. Weve now been waiting for it for i think just about an hour. Theyre going to give us an update on the situation. Presumably the condition of the shooter. There have been, as weve been reporting, conflicting reports about whether or not the shooter is alive or dead, whether he died at the scene, died in transit to the hospital, or was pronounced dead at the hospital, or if he is still alive. We do know that he is in police custody, presumably while the shooter is at the hospital. Were also told by Pete Williams that it may have been the shooters birthday today, which means he was not 15 but 16 years old. Jim, you were just speaking
about senators not showing the courage to put their seats at risk, to pass common sense gun reforms, Background Checks, et cetera. Would you go so far as to hold them responsible for the deaths that are continuing, the lives that are continuing to be lost with gun violence . Look, i clearly do. All leaders have a responsibility to act responsibly to help the citizens. And its not responsible to block a debate or to block a vote. And thats whats happening. Thats thats totally irresponsible, its not leadership. It shows no leadership integrity. Its done to protect their seats. They dont want to have to vote on the bill because theyre afraid in their state or district their constituents wont like the way the vote may turn out. The vote may turn out overwhelmingly as youve pointed out of 90 of americans want Background Checks, it may turn
out to pass the Background Checks. They dont want to take the blow back they think theyll receive from voters in their states. Thats what theyre afraid of. Theyre afraid of blow back from their voters, maybe not getting reelected. How do you balance that with the fear of these children in these schools . How do you balance that with the parents anguished tonight in Santa Clarita where this family lost a young woman . How do you balance this . Its not really something the human mind can balance fairly. So yes, i as a leader, i would absolutely put the bill on the floor at risk to my own seat. At risk to not getting reelected. What a horrible thing that would be. We ask policemen to put their lives on the loan and soldiers, and on the line, and soldiers, and they do it all the time. Your seat, youre too afraid to lose it. Thats whats got to change in america. If it wont change there and i dont think it will were seeing images right now of parents waiting on the sidewalk outside of the school
checking their phones, crying. You know, weve seen these images now, gentlemen, for 20 years. Since the late 90s, since what happened at columbine. Images of children walking single file out of a school with their hands up, children running from a scene. Law enforcement officers walking in with long guns. People being taken out in stretchers at our schools, at our Elementary Schools, at our middle schools, at our high schools. Weve heard from the families of those who have lost their loved ones, most recently not most recently but one of the more recent ones, parkland. Im saddened to say that that is not the most recent one. There have been a number of others. Begging politicians, begging our president to do something about it, going and having meetings in the oval office and saying, please, please help us stop this from happening again. The president seemed for a while to be open to that, but he had a phone call with the nra and suddenly wasnt open to any sort of gun reforms. Maybe the the stopping of of a gun that can shoot multiple rounds at once. But thats it. Lets lets go lets go to the News Conference here and take a moment and listen to the the Santa Clarita sheriff. Good morning. Im Sergeant Benjamin grubb with the los angeles Sheriffs Department, sheriffs information bureau. I thank you all for coming here today. I want to get right into it regarding this incident in Santa Clarita. Specifically Saugus High School. Without further ado, sheriff Lakes Villanueva and collect wegnegner, wegnegner. I regret to inform its a sad day in august is asauguaugust s. At 7 38, the Santa Clarita station received a message of a shooting. Within seconds we received multiple calls. At 7 40, the first units arrived on scene and encountered in the quad area of the school multiple victims, Gunshot Wounds. There were a total of six victims who were promptly triaged and transported to the local hospitals for treatment. Among those that were transported, it turned out to be the suspect, who is currently in the hospital and in grave condition. Hes a male asian, 16 years of age, and a student of the school. The other five students, ill have the captain provide their demographi demographics. The school was locked down, we
did partial evacuation. We also sheltered in place a portion of the school until we established who was who was responsible for this tragic shooting. The surrounding schools in the area were also placed on lockdown as a precaution. We did identify identified who the shooter was through frand witnesses firsthand witnesses, video surveillance, we confirmed it. We executed a Search Warrant at the residence of the suspect, and now were going through the very lengthy process of conducting a thorough investigation to figure out what happened and why. At the same time, were busy now doing the reunification with the students with their parents. And all the affected students have been notified. Their families have been notified, and they are with them currently. Now im going to turn this over to captain wegener. Thank you, sheriff. My name is captain kent we high gener, captain homicide
bureau. This morning at 7 38. Santa clara station received a call of 245 occurred, an assault with a deadly weapon. A shooting that had just occurred at 21900 Centurian Way in Santa Clarita at Saugus High School. Upon arrival within two minutes, Santa Clarita deputies recognized it was an active shooter situation and conducted a Rapid Deployment on to the school premises. When they reached the quad area, they discovered six persons who were suffering from gunshot Gunshot Wounds. These were all students of the high school. All the students were triaged and transported to a local hospital. The suspect was later identified as one of the victims who was found in the quad. He is identified as a 16yearold male whose birthday is today. The weapon that he used was recovered at the scene. Its a. 45caliber semiautomatic
pistol which had no more rounds in it. Had no more bullets in it. He is a residence in the 22900 block of Sycamore Creek drive in Santa Clarita. That location was contained by sheriffs deputies, and a cursory search was done to identify any other potential victims which may be at the location. There were none there. It is being contained. A Search Warrant is being written, and it will be conducted to process that scene for evidence. We are in the process of Interviewing Students who were witnesses to this incident. Some of those students are being taken are still at the high school in a multipurpose room, and other students are at Grace Baptist Church where they will be interviewed by sheriffs homicide detectives. Additionally we have scenes at the quad, at the school, to process the crime scene there. A team at the suspects house, a team at the at two different local hospitals. We have another team thats working with our tech crew to process any video which we may be able to get from the Surveillance System at the high school. The fbi is here, and they are collaborating with us to preserve and capture any Cell Phone Video which the students may have captured of this incident at the time that it happened. The suspects girlfriend and his mother are at Santa Clarita station with detectives currently. Detectives have reviewed the video at the scene which clearly show the subject in the quad withdraw a handgun from his backpack, shoot and wound five people, and then shoot himself in the head. There are no other subjects who are outstanding as part of this incident or who took part in
this assault. The victim whos are hospitalized victims who are hospitalized, and i regret to say that at 9 23 this morning, one of the female victims, age 16, passed away. Her parents are at the hospital. Theres another female victim, age 14, another female victim age 15, two male victims, each 14 years of age. Again, this is preliminary information. I know there are rumors out there about social media posts, and and different videos that may have been posted from the scene. We will be looking into that. At this point i dont have any information about that. I can tell you that we have checked for recent threats involving Saugus High School. We identified two which were investigated and had no nexus to this subject. At this point, i thank you. Next id like to introduce yeah. Los Angeles County Fire Department chief darrell osbey. Thank you. Hello. Darrell osbey, fire chief of the los Angeles County Fire Department. It is mentioned today the saugus incident, this is a pretty sobering incident for those involved including First Responders. On behalf of the los Angeles County Fire Department, our sympathies and prayers and positive spirits go out to everyone that was affected. As mentioned previously, along with the Sheriffs Department, the los Angeles County Fire Department got a call at 7 38 this morning for a shooting at Saugus High School. Our resources arrived on scene with the sheriffs already on scene. We train routinely with the
Sheriffs Department for these types of incidents. Our personnel went in with Force Protection which means protection from the sheriffs to go in and assess the scene. At the height of the incident, the los Angeles County Fire Department had ten fire engines, seven paramedics squads, 24 ambulances, one helicopter, and appropriate overhead on scene. Our objectives during these types of incidents is life safety and prevention, triage, treatment, and transportation to the hospital. As mentioned earlier, there were a total of six victims that were affected by gunshots. They were considered critical on scene. The most critical unfortunately had a head shot to the head, and the other was in cardiac arrest. Four victims were transported to henry mayo hospital. Two other critical were
transported to holy cross hospital. And then we had a noncritical that was transported to olive view for a total of seven incidents. As we conclude this incident from the Fire Departments perspective, working with the sheriffs and investigators, also there were several members of my department, and this is a very closeknit community, that had kids that were also at the school. Some of those members have already been relieved to get the proper peer support and mental support on behalf of the department and on behalf of the county of los angeles. So our department will continue to support our personnel to the appropriate mental, spiritual, behavioral support along with their families, and we will keep everyone else involved in our deepest thoughts. Thank you. Now from the Los Angeles Field Office of the federal bureau of
investigation, Assistant Director in charge, paul delacourt. Good morning, im paul delacourts, assistants director in charge of the fbis Los Angeles Field Office. We are once again here in front of you, another somber and sobering press statement. Were talking about something that no parents should ever have to go through, no High School Students should ever have to worry about. Yet, were here to talk about it again. The fbi Crisis Response resources, we are here in support of the l. A. County Sheriffs Department. At this time we are collaborating on victim and witness interviews and Digital Media exploitation. We have begun a social media scrub. We have our Evidence Response Team and our Victim Witness Services teams on standby, ready to assist. We have Resources Available from cyber division, our laboratory division, if necessary to assist the l. A. County sheriffs
department in this investigation. I can report to you that at this time we have no known additional threats. We have no threats to this or any other school or no threats to this or any other area. Were here at this point as a Police Cooperation matter. We will run all the leads to ground, but at this point we have no indication of any motivation or idealogy. Its early on in this investigation. Im pleased with collaboration with our parterts in, proud of our response and collaboration with our partners. But once again, its sad that we have had to bring those resources to bear in another situation like it. Thank you. Next, Los Angeles County supervisor katherine barter. I first want to thank l. A. County Sheriffs Department who responded within two minutes of the call that came in regarding this horrific act. We have department of Mental Health has support teams on site right now working with the students, as well as the Family Members. As you can imagine, the impact this is going to have not only on the school but on this community is tremendous. The department of meant Mental Health stands ready to support the community. I want to thank Machinpeople Fog here, the state, local, federal officials here working together. Many are asking why. That will come with time. Back up right now, our focus is on supporting the community. And you heard chief osbey say that many of the sheriffs and fire officials that work here live here and either have children that attended the school or attend the school. So this has hit very, very, very close to home. My heart aches, but i stand ready to support this community and lead and make sure that we provide the resources necessary to help. Thank you. Next we have Assembly Member kristi smith. Thank you. Its a very tragic day for our communities. And i stand with Supervisor Barger in thanking our First Responders, the Law Enforcement community, with the Sheriffs Department, our Fire Department for their Immediate Response in preventing further loss of life in this matter. I also stand with the county, the city, our School District allies in saying the state will bring all necessary resources to bear as we help the victims of this senseless tragedy to recover, as we help our community to recover. As hopefully we learn something from this tragedy about how we move on and hopefully prevent future tragedies like this. We appreciate your cooperation and your sensitivity to what our community is going through right now. We are very close knit. We will come together, and we will survive. We just cant afford another tragic day like this. Thank you. Thank you, maam. Santa clarita mayor marcia mclean. Thank you. We may be the thirdlargest city in l. A. County, but we are a closeknit, family oriented community. And our family sticks together. I have a granddaughter who was at Saugus High School this morning, and when i heard about it, the feeling that went over me was indescribable. So i felt the same thing that our families are feeling about their kids here in the community. And i just want to say that we as a city are going to be working with all agencies together to try and get through this terrible, terrible experience, including making our Activities Center available for this evening between 5 00 and 7 00, the School District will tell you more about that. I just want every single family
member to know that we are with you. Our heart is with you, and thats all i can say as to this horrible thing. Theres no words to describe it. Thank you. From our School District, colin neilson. Thank you. Id like to first thank our First Responders and the city of Santa Clarita for their tremendous response this morning. First and foremost, our hearts go out to the families of those affected by this terrible incident. Words are insufficient in times such as these. Nevertheless, we want to give you the facts that we have available at this moment regarding the incident at Saugus High School this morning. There was a shooting before the start of classes. Law enforcement responded immediately and came on campus to address the situation with a massive presence. Several students have been transported, as youve heard, to local hospitals. All schools in the Hart District are initially placed on lockdown as a precaution. And to allow Law Enforcement to deal with the situation. At this point all schools have been removed from lockdown. Once the scene was declared safe by Law Enforcement, saugus students were transported to central park via city and district buses to be reunited with their families. We are currently in the process of formulating a plan to care for our school and our community and will continue Sharing Updates as we learn more, including the plan for the days ahead. Tonight at the Santa Clarita Activities Center, from 5 00 to 7 00 p. M. , we will have a well have Grief Counselors and Mental Health professionals available for our community. We will continue to work with Law Enforcement, the city of Santa Clarita and our community partners. We encourage the Hart District family to check with our website for regular updates. Thank you. Okay, again, were going to do one more speaker and then do spanish. Santa clarita sheriffs Station Captain ron lewis. Good morning, everyone, and
thank you for coming to get the message out. I am ron lewis, captain for the Santa Clarita sheriffs station. This is a tough day for Santa Clarita. Ive been a 52year resident of Santa Clarita and grew up in the saugus area. Santa clarita is a very, very strong community. I appreciate everyone surrounding themselves around us this morning and helping as much as possible from the community. We are working through this event over the course of the next few hours, the course of the next few days. Currently we have a Reunification Center here at central park. We want to make sure that everyone knew that that was the Reunification Center for all parents and children who go went to Saugus High School. As well as i want to make sure that the community is aware that we as captain wegener had spoken, we have several people that witnessed this, and we are going to be talking to them. Weve been in contact with nepal and their parents to make sure that they know that they are safe. So were getting the communication out to the public as quickly as possible. And getting the information out to everyone and all the residents. As we move forward over the course of the next few days, id like to look at every single cameras eye and look in every eye of every resident of Santa Clarita and the surrounding area and everyone who helps us. Santa clarita is a very, very, very strong community. I asked the parents, and i ask everybody in the community, in the days ahead and in the years ahead, the main thing we need to do is wrap our arms around each other. So we know whats happening in everyones lives. As a in everyones lives. As a strong community, 294,000 residents. We also, 294,000 residents, need to gather around this incident. Tragic and tragedy struck but how do we come out of tragedy . We come out of it by surrounding each other, holding hands, saying prayers, and spending
time together to see and to see whats going on, see whats happening. And then my last thing is we need to say no more. As the fbi Special Agent said, this is a tragic event. It happens too frequently. And across the nation, i hear frequently, no more, no more, no more. When are we going to come together as a community, Santa Clarita and the rest of the communities, to say no more . It really has to be put out there through you, the media, to get that information out. But thank you very much for being here. Well be taking some questions in a few minutes. And i think we have one more speaker. Were going to have one more speaker thats going to come up from henry mill hospital. Patrick moody. We have an update, sir. Okay. All right. Thank you very much for coming. I appreciate it. Okay, now the sheriff is going to do a spanish interview with the assistance of homicide captain kent wagner. While they are speaking in spanish, let me just update you on what we have just learned because it was quite a bit. The suspect was a 16yearold male. It was his birthday today so he just turned 16. He was not found in that house that we had been standing in front of that joe fryer had been standing in front of. Rather, police now say that he was found in the quad. This happened at 7 38 this morning. Thats when they got the call. When they got there, they found five people with Gunshot Wounds. One of those people was the suspect. They said they were able to recover Surveillance Video, which shows the suspect walking into the quad, taking his gun out of a backpack, shooting four people, and then im sorry, shooting five people and then
shooting himself in the head. There are five other victims. As i just said, three of them are girls. One of them, a 16yearold, is now dead. Her parents are at the hospital. Two other girls, 14yearold and 15yearold. Two other boys, both of them 14 years old. They say that they are currently interviewing the suspects mother and the suspects girlfriend. They have teams Interviewing Students at the hospital im sorry, at the School Getting a sense of what they saw and what happened and what they mightve known about the suspect beforehand. They have a team at the suspects house, i presume is where joe fryer was, going through the suspects stuff there. They also wanted to make sure that there was nothing there that could pose a threat to anybody else. And they have teams at the hospital. Theyre trying to find all the Surveillance Video they can to piece this together more. But it does sound like theyve
got a pretty good idea of what happened. Motive, though, is still unknown. Joining me now is nbc news correspondent joe fryer who is in Santa Clarita. Also with me, retired fbi Special Agent bobby chicon. Joe, we thought the suspect is where you are. It turns out that he was found in the quad. Yeah, and to be clear, there was a lot of confusing information. And remember, in the early stages after this shooting happened, out of precaution because authorities still had not figured out who the gunman was, they said the gunman was still on the loose. But we have now learned that the gunman is, in fact, in that initial group but still here at the gunmans house, authorities did come here because they wanted to make sure there were no other victims here. They say there were no other victims here but the police tape remains up here and they are going to be executing a Search Warrant here to see if they can find out any more information about why this happened. At this point, no clues about what the motivation might be. Katy. Joe fryer. Joe, thank you very much. Retired fbi Special Agent bobby is with me. Bobby, it sounds like they have a very good idea of what happened and they were able to figure it out relatively quickly. Yeah, and i think they probably have a very good idea why it happened, as well. These incidents like this, a single individual acting alone, whether he targeted those people or not, we would know fairly quickly. High schools are an incubator for information. They probably talked to his fellow students, his teachers, his parents. They probably know what was happening in his life at this time. Id be very surprised if the fact that todays his birthday is not a significant factor in what he did. So i think that they probably have a good idea. Now, its a matter of taking this information and how do we put it to use into our paradigm and procedures and how do we stop the next one . Were there preincident indicators as we call them . Did he tip off what he was going to do . So you get into the conversation of how do we build into our
school systems and our Public Safety systems ways to deal with people that are going down, you know, this road to cause violence to people. And then obviously, how do we deny them access to the means to carry out those violent acts . Bobby, thank you very much. Joining me now is new jersey senator and 2020 president ial candidate cory booker. Senator, thank you for joining us. Whats your reaction . First of all, its just these things cannot normalize. So obviously, i think i just i think the nations sentiment as a whole, this is egregious event. We mourn and were keeping the survivors, as well as the families of the victims, in our hearts at this time. But i also feel a on deepening sense of conviction. We are a nation where these incidents happen in a way that is unusual in the entire world. We are singular in the number of these kind of attacks we have. And what makes us unique is the
ease with which people can get their hands on these weapons of destruction. And we have to not just simply have thoughts and prayers at this moment. We have to have a deeper commitment to preventing the ease with which these weapons can be achieved and do the things that we know. Evidence shows the steps we can take to drive down the numbers of these incidents in a dramatic fashion. What is your gun policy your gun proposal for your 2020 campaign . Well, you know, we have what has been called the boldest plan out there that includes everything from Gun Licensing. One handgun a month rules. Our plan is very much based on the evidencebased elements that we know make a difference. States that have done Gun Licensing, for example. Like, connecticut, have a 40 have saw a 40 drop in shootings. 15 drop in suicides. But they are undermined. Connecticut and other states of Gun Licensing from the fact that its so easy to get guns in neighboring states and that you
can easily bring the weapons in. We need a federal policy. But remember, we have president s in the past, like barack obama, who had a strong feeling on this. The next leader is going to have to be someone that can build a Greater Coalition from everybody, from the generation z who are in high schools right now all the way to the fullness of our National Voice because we know that republicans, nra members even, agree on things like Gun Licensing and universal Background Checks. Which have to begin to make this a printable National Cause and we all understand that we now are seeing rates of violence in our country where more people have died in the last 50 years in gun violence than in every single war in our history combined. From the revolutionary war to the current wars going on in the middle east. This has got to become a a a major part of whoever the next president is and major part of their agenda to build the kind
of movement and coalitions necessary to get common sense Gun Safety Laws passed in our country. How does it happen if the republicans still control the senate . Well, again, as someone in the senate whos seen manchin, tombys Common Ground effort. But they will have the National Strength on their on their side. We saw but they have the National Strength on their side right now, senator. No. No. We we do not. 90 of americans agree with stronger Background Checks. Yeah, but were weve got to turn that in from answers on polls to an actual movement. The longest filibuster in the Senate History is str strom thurmans civil rights movement. It was going nowhere until we passed started a movement around
passing civil rights legislation. We are now the strongest nation on planet earth sending children to school with the implicit message that we cant protect you so were going to teach you how to duck and tide. There are more shelter in place drills than fire drills in our schools. We know there is the sentiment there but that has to be turned into electoral strength. I will be the president that does that because to me, this is not an issue that is a sometimes School Shooting. In communities like mine, people are shot with chilling reg lairty. Children that i know are being killed in africanamerican urban communities around this country. We have to begin to create a movementlike effort where whoever is the next president makes this a central purpose to their presidency to pass common sense gun safety. I will do that. I will work to build those kind of coalitions and we will overcome any republican or nra or corporate gun lobbys attempt to stop us. Senator cory booker, thank you for coming on and thank you for making that point that this
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